Sen. Ted Cruz calls for critics to cool down their rhetoric

Senator Ted Cruz during an interview with host Maria Bartiromo on Fox News called for his critics to cool down their rhetoric about sedition and treason. 

The sedition comments were levied after Cruz and others called for an election audit. The Texas Republican and other GOP senators asked Congress to appoint an "Electoral Commission" to carry out a 10-day audit of the election results in some states: "Accordingly, we intend to vote on January 6 to reject the electors from disputed states as not ‘regularly given' and ‘lawfully certified' (the statutory requisite), unless and until that emergency 10-day audit is completed," the group of senators said in a joint statement. 

Critics responded to that move by saying Cruz should be arrested on charges related to sedition.

"I think we need to tone down the rhetoric," the Texas Republican said during the interview on Fox News. "This is already a volatile situation. It's like a tinderbox and throwing lit matches into it."

Cruz mentioned "hyperbole" and "angry language" and said that there were "Democrats urging that I should be arrested and tried for the crimes of sedition and treason. Now look that's not helpful. At a time when this country, when we're pitted against each other, just relax and let's do our jobs. We have a responsibility to follow the law," the senator said.